Fran Dunwell, coordinator of the DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program (HREP), said her department was eager to partner with municipalities and local groups to better protect the environment, create more waterfront public access, preserve the viewshed and help plan for climate change. “We need to know where the water will go, how it will impact roads, wastewater treatment facilities, and businesses, and what tools we can offer,” she said.
More drama, more moisture
According to all the indicators, the effects of global warming are well underway, Spector said. While the ratio of record high temperatures to record lows was 1:1 in the 1950s, it’s now at 1.09:1 and is expected to be 2.04:1 by 2020, he said. In New York State, annual winter temperatures are almost 5 degrees warmer than they were 30 years ago, a trend noticed by local gardeners, who are now planting in a different climate zone than in years past. The state is expected to receive 5 percent more precipitation in the future, with more rain falling in fewer events — a weather pattern Spector characterized as “much flashier.” In between the heavy rains, soils will be drier and periodic droughts are forecast. As it is, “we’re observing a faster increase of big rain events in the Northeast than the model predicts,” he said.
Ice melt is the root cause of a one-inch rise of the Hudson River, which is predicted to rise, minimally, between eight to18 inches by 2080 if the projected global greenhouse gas emissions increase is lower and as much as 37 to 50 inches if the emissions increase is higher. The steep slopes lining the river in many places constrain the amount of acreage that is expected to be inundated — 5,500 acres in 60 to 80 years, according to Spector.
The Hudson Valley has more freshwater wetlands than other regions of the state — habitat that is considered to be “globally rare” — and a population of 2.9 million, concentrated in 265 communities, 80 of them along the river. “Balancing the needs of the estuary and people in the face of climate change is a difficult challenge,” he said. Planning for the change, while extremely costly — Spector said no one knows where the funding sources will come from — will in the end cost taxpayers less, better protect public health, create jobs, reduce risk to property, and result in more energy independence than simply doing nothing.
Soften shorelines
One common-sense step is to have mostly vegetated corridors in the 100-year flood plain, he added, projecting a map of Kingston showing the flood plain of the future. “We need to soften the hard shorelines and protect the tidal and supra-tidal habitats,” he said.
This doesn’t surprise me. The flooding down here in Ponckhockie during Hurricane Irene was worse that it ever had been before. Since a large part of the riverfront is undeveloped, I see no reason not to establish a wetlands approach/nature preserve to the shoreline. I applaud the new Mayor for moving on the comprehensive plan for the city. We certainly need one and as far as the waste treatment plant, perhaps moving closer to the AVR development might be an idea worth looking into.